Petals & Pollinators 14 Aug

The photograph tells it all for the upcoming week. Outdoor gardening will be limited because of the heat advisories. Rain will be unlikely but perhaps we will have an afternoon thunderstorm. It has been the pattern recently. We have had sufficient rainfall and more about that later.

With the rising heat, the blooming plants are looking fatigued. The summer dance of debutantes is ending. Maybe, they will soon be shopping for their fall social events.

I have written about the upcoming Pollinator Census and today the photos are again on pollinators. Most of these photos were taken at the Corner Garden by fellow garden enthusiast, Sam. He has wonderful photography skill.

As usual, I will be joining the Six On Saturday group in the morning. Come join us and see recent photos of gardeners from around the globe. Just click on the link. If you want to participate, instructions can be found at the following website https://gardenruminations.co.uk

https://gardenruminations.co.uk

1. Bee on Salvia ‘Meadow Sage’

This plant has long angular pannicles. The bees love them and burrow deeply to access the nectar.

2. Bee on Echinacea purpurea

The bumble bees also swarm the purple coneflowers. This great photo shows the full pollen sac.

3. Bumble Bee

This bee is covered with pollen grains. The close up is good enough to clearly see that the pollen is not from the same plant.

4. Silver Spotted Skipper

This skipper is on the encore azalea in search of nectar.

5. Mantis

This mantis was found on the azalea. It is probably a juvenile Carolina mantis. To orient you, it is upside down. It is not a pollinator but it does feast on aphids which is “aiding and abetting” so I included it.

6. Stokes Aster

This Stoke’s Aster is flourishing in the garden. It has numerous daughter plants which we have been planting in the garden. This bloom is from one of those plants.

Bonus Precipitation

Finally, the weekly rainfall in inches as seen 3 days ago. We had a substantial rain on Saturday the 8. The forecast is for a dry week.

We will be holding a Pollinator Census event on August 22. Here is the website for more information about the census.

The Great Southeast Pollinator Census in Alabama

Happy Gardening!